The Kyoto LiddoKun
by Tuxedo Jack
Summary: My, it's been a while since I've updated, hasn't it? At any rate, standard disclaimers apply. Shoujo-ai, very non-canon pairing. Yes, it's KanakoNaru. A gift to Her.
1. Prologue: Kanako

"Ai wa yume no mama de wa, tsudzukanai, musaboreba, utsukushii shikabane  
soredemo."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Tuxedo Jack  
~and~  
Craptacularly Spignificant Productions  
~present, with some apologies to Akamatsu~  
  
The Kyoto Liddo-Kun  
Prologue  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
DISCLAIMER: Once again, I don't own Love Hina. I certainly  
don't own that story by (I think; it's been years since I  
read it) Dashiell Hammett, which this is based off of. This   
story, however, is mine. Please don't distribute it without   
leaving it as is.   
  
There is shoujo-ai ahead. In fact, this whole series is  
practically nothing but shoujo-ai. If this offends, just   
click "Back" and you'll not read it. Do forgive me if I'm  
a touch classical or hopeless here; this _is_ my first  
non-poetic piece that deals with romance, and it's certainly  
my first shoujo-ai creation ever (serious shoujo-ai; the OVSDHH  
endings doesn't count, since they're PWP scenes... except the  
Shinobu one).  
  
This series is a gift to Kanako Himezaki-Urashima. Unwrap  
and enjoy.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Hinata.  
  
The very name of the city implies that it's a beautiful place,  
and it is. The city's home to art, music, and people - gods,  
hundreds of people.  
  
I just had to move there, didn't I?  
  
I suppose I should introduce myself, since talking to strangers  
is rather rude. My name is Kanako Urashima, and I'm a private  
investigator.  
  
Lately, things have been in slump. Business hasn't exactly been  
good (this is Japan; very few crimes are committed, and the police  
generally solve them, which, unfortunately, puts a damper on my  
funds), my secretary quit (so now I've got a temp by the name of  
Shinobu), and my partner recently left the business.  
  
All in all, life's been bad to me.  
  
It was rainy that day, rainy and foggy. That in itself was odd,  
since this area of Japan doesn't get fog too often. However, I  
went in to my office that morning as usual, and Shinobu was there  
with her good-morning smile and a fresh pot of coffee. I took  
a cup, sat back in my office, and tried to push the dream I'd had   
the previous night out of my mind.  
  
About an hour later, I heard a knocking. A few moments later, Shinobu  
opened my door and said that I had a visitor here on business. I nodded,  
and she let the visitor in.  
  
Even by my standards, this woman was gorgeous. Long red hair, brown eyes,  
pouty red lips, and a figure that just wouldn't quit. Shinobu showed her   
to a seat, and then slipped out.  
  
"Are you Kanako Urashima?" she said.  
  
"That would depend on who's asking."  
  
"I'm Naru Narusegawa, and I'm looking for a private investigator."  
  
I nodded. So this woman had issues that she needed solved. "Why would you  
need one? You don't look like the kind of woman that finds herself in trouble  
too often."  
  
"Um, well, you see..." She started stumbling over her words for no apparent reason,  
and after a minute or so, I got tired of it.  
  
"Look, Naru, tell me what you came here for or go! I don't have time to waste  
listening to this!" The girl sniffled, and she was clearly about to break down.   
"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound that rude. Now what's the problem?"  
  
She pulled out a tissue and wiped her nose. "It's... it's my boyfriend, Keitaro.  
He went missing a few days ago, and it's not like him!"  
  
I ran a hand over my chin. "Your boyfriend went missing, did he? Could he  
be cheating?" I ran my eyes over her once again. Damn, she was stunning.  
"Hell, if I were him, I wouldn't leave you hanging like that."  
  
"It's not just that," she whispered. "He said that a friend of his was in  
trouble, and that he'd found something he shouldn't have."  
  
I smiled. Stolen goods - now this was my field of expertise. I could track  
anything once I got a hint of it. "So Keitaro stole something?"  
  
She shook her head in a negative sense. "No, no, Keitaro would never do that.  
It's not his way. I mean, he's honest to the core, and once he sets his heart  
on something, he does it."  
  
I nodded. "Sounds like the knight in shining armor every woman wants," I said,  
snorting afterwards.  
  
"What, you don't want a guy like that?"  
  
I sat upright. "That's private. Let's just say that I don't go for that kind  
of guy."  
  
"Sorry." Naru looked me straight in the eyes, and I was worried that for a second  
she might see right through me. Fortunately, she asked me a second later - "Will  
you find him? Please?"  
  
I thought for a minute. When I saw her sniffle again - gods, I cracked. I can't resist  
women like that. Never have, never will. Ah, Yuki, forgive me...  
  
"I'll do it," I said absently. "Talk to Shinobu, she'll deal with the details."  
  
Naru ran over and threw her arms around me. I tensed, but if was just a friendly hug.  
"Thank you, thank you! Please, find him quickly, I miss him..."  
  
She walked out, and a few moments later I heard her and Shinobu finalizing  
the contracts. After she left, Shinobu came in with a fresh cup of coffee for me.  
I gratefully accepted it, and Shinobu shook her head, causing her blue pageboy  
haircut to swirl like mist around her face.  
  
"Something on your mind, Shinobu?"  
  
"Kanako-san, that woman..."  
  
"What about her?" I said, a memory of her fresh in my mind and my lips upon  
the coffee cup.  
  
"She's... I don't know, there's something wrong about her, I can just feel it!"  
  
I shrugged and put the mug down on my desk. "The only thing I'm worrying about  
is if her check clears or not. If it doesn't... I may have to close up shop  
here."  
  
Shinobu blinked. "You're kidding! I didn't know that you were that badly off,   
Kanako-san!"  
  
"It's nothing. Don't worry your pretty head about it."  
  
"If you say say, Kanako-san." Shinobu turned and left, her skirt flaring behind her.  
  
I sighed.  
  
This was going to be a _long_ week.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES  
  
Nothing major to say. This _is_ a gift to Kanako, so I  
do sincerely hope that the introduction meets with her   
approval. I fully intend to "ganbatte yo" on this, as  
Kanako deserves nothing less than my best.  
  
It is a series, and I'll be posting parts as I can get  
them done. Expect the next part soon.  
  
And yes, it _is_ going to be a Kanako and Naru pairing.  
*Hears thunder and shockwaves* Um... I think I've drawn  
the wrath of the Almighty. I'd best continue with this  
in a bit.  
  
Ja!  
  
Tuxedo Jack  
Tuxedojack@juno.com  
June 23rd, 2003 


	2. Chapter the First: Aoyama and Urashima

"Hikaru mono no subete ga ougen to wa kagiranai."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Tuxedo Jack  
~and~  
Craptacularly Spignificant Productions  
~present, with some apologies to Akamatsu~  
  
The Kyoto Liddo-Kun  
Chapter the First  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
I refuse to put a disclaimer in the new chapters of this  
series. If you want to see a disclaimer that badly, go back  
to the first chapter and don't look here.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
It didn't make sense.  
  
A man calls his girlfriend while he's panicking, tells her that  
he's worried about a friend, and vanishes. Oh, and he just happens  
to mention that the friend's got something that he shouldn't have.  
  
It sounded like a damn old story.  
  
However, it wasn't mine to bitch about, since I was stuck finding the  
guy in the first place.  
  
My name's Kanako Urashima, and I'm a private detective.  
  
I'd been hired by Naru Narusegawa, and I had very, very little to go  
on. Even with my sources, I was going to have a tough time with this.  
  
"Kanako-san," my secretary said from the next room. "You have another  
visitor. Shall I show her in?"  
  
"Bring her in," I replied, and Shinobu opened the door. It was who I   
thought it was - the local police officer, Motoko Aoyama. She was the   
only cop I'd dealt with in ages, and she eschewed guns completely - she   
said that they "were not the proper way to do combat," or some such.   
Thanks to the philosophy, she carried a katana.  
  
I'd snorted when I heard her philosophy. Give me a .45 and put me up against  
her any day - then we'd see who walked away.  
  
"Good morning, Urashima-san," she said, bowing formally when she entered.  
I nodded to her, and motioned for her to sit down, which she did.  
  
"What brings you here, Aoyama-san?" I said as I drew out a cigarette   
and prepared to light it. Motoko saw it, drew her sword, and performed   
a rapid slash, cutting the cigarette in half.  
  
I sighed. "I wish you wouldn't do that."  
  
"Urashima-san, be serious." Her demeanor was startling, to say the least.  
We'd dated before (I'm not hesitant to admit that. She'd drawn me in, and  
like a sucker, I fell for her. When she dumped me, it felt like hitting  
concrete, and ever since then, I'd been in a dry spell), and her attitude  
was completely different from what it had been when I knew her. "I know  
all about your meeting with Narusegawa-san, and I know about her little  
problem."  
  
"Then you can tell me why the hell he'd up and vanish, Motoko," I said,  
baiting her. "I mean, surely since the police solve everything in this  
country, they'd know where a college student's boyfriend went to with  
improperly acquired goods."  
  
Her face hardened. "How did you..." She sighed. "No matter. Since you  
already know, I might as well tell you what the police figured out.  
It seems that the boy Keitaro is messing with things far beyond what  
he thought when he left."  
  
"Oh? Yakuza?"  
  
Motoko shook her head. "If the yakuza were involved in this, their  
hands would have been tipped already. They fail to be discreet with  
missing people and murders. We believe the zaibatsu and keiretsu are   
to blame."  
  
"Corporations? Industry leaders? What would..."  
  
She shrugged. "That is what we don't know. All we can hypothesize is that  
the goods Keitaro possesses are trade secrets or something."  
  
I waved a finger and lit a second cigarette. "He's not the one with them.  
It's one of his friends."  
  
Motoko smiled. "Thank you. You've just given me a hint to whom I need to  
find." She stood. "I shall take my leave now, Kanako-san. I bid you good  
day." She left, and Shinobu shut the door behind her.  
  
I sat there and smoked. How could a college student - a ronin, for God's  
sake - have gotten his hands on something big enough for either the yakuza  
or zaibatsu to come after him? No corporation hired college students for  
anything secret. His friend must have worked for one of them and passed it  
to him, then...  
  
I shook my head and blew away the haze of smoke around me. "Shinobu-san,  
I'm going out. Mind the office."  
  
Shinobu nodded vigorously, making her hair bounce around and create a  
semi-angelic halo around her. "Hai, Urashima-san! I'll do my best!"  
  
"You do that," I said, pulling my long coat off the coatrack by the door.  
Yes, even I conform to some stereotypes. Traditionally, private eyes and  
detectives wear trenchcoats - tan ones, with belts and lots of pockets. I  
did indeed wear a trenchcoat, but it was black, and had a silver cross on  
each lapel with a dark red silk lining.  
  
I slipped it on and walked into the rain outside. There were three stops I  
had to make to even get a lead on this case, and quite frankly, I wanted to  
get them done before I got soaked. So I walked along the streets, umbrella  
over my head, trenchcoat billowing behind me... god, I sound like something  
out of an old anime.   
  
A trolley came by, and I boarded it. My first destination was across   
town, and I'd rather ride than walk. I'd need all the energy I can get   
for the meeting I had in mind.  
  
I was going to meet with some old friends... old friends who didn't exactly  
deal in normal trades.  
  
While the trolley went across town slowly, I had time to think. It was  
the kid, Keitaro, who was the key to it all. That Naru woman certainly  
knew more than she was telling. I'd have to make a special trip to get  
it out of her.  
  
My mind drifted for a minute. Under other circumstances, I'd have been  
interested in her - maybe even enough to try to romance her. Of course,  
I didn't know if she'd respond as she is, or if she'd throw it off, or  
if she'd reject me out of instinct. However, in Japan, we're taught that  
sex is a bodily function. We don't get all worked up about it like  
the gaijin do. Nothing's wrong with being attracted to members of one's  
own sex. The problem lies in the opposite party being attracted to you.  
  
So sue me, she was a wounded dove, and I like that in a woman.  
  
The trolley shuddered to a stop, and I looked around. It was my stop.  
I slipped off the trolley, tightened my coat, and opened my umbrella.  
A short walk up the street, I found my destination - a small office   
building, which had the characters for "Tsuki no O-cha" above the front  
door.  
  
I entered and signed in at the front desk, then asked to see three specific  
people - none of which, the guard informed me, were there. I cursed myself  
for being so stupid, and then... then the very person I wanted to see came  
out of the shadows in an elevator archway.  
  
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" she said to me, smoking her  
cigarette.  
  
"I think you know, obaasan," I replied.  
  
At this, Haruka snapped her fingers, and two men came out from behind her.  
Each of them grabbed one of my arms rather roughly, and she smirked.  
  
"You shouldn't have come."  
  
I stared straight into her eyes. "I'm here on business. A client of mine  
is seeking information on the whereabouts..."  
  
Haruka raised her hand and pulled her cigarette out of her mouth. "Haitani,  
Shirai, take her to my office. Take care of her until I get there."  
  
The two holding my arms nodded, then pulled me towards an elevator.  
  
I really didn't like where this was going, but seeing as how Haruka hadn't  
ever attacked me before, I had some faith in her.  
  
After I was placed in Haruka's office by Haitani and Shirai (who stood guard  
over me... as if I was going to steal anything), I was stuck waiting for about  
ten minutes... and then she came in. Haruka Urashima, my aunt, entered the room   
and sat down in a high-backed chair behind her desk.  
  
The nameplate on her desk said "Director, Tsuki no O-cha Enterprises." However,  
some people knew that Haruka was far more than she claimed to be.  
  
Haruka was the local yakuza boss.  
  
"I hadn't expected for you to come to me, Kanako," she said, lighting another  
cigarette and passing me a box of Shinsei. I accepted, lit one, and drew in the  
smoke.   
  
"You know why I came here," I said quietly. "All that remains is the price necessary  
for your information."  
  
Haruka stood from her chair and walked around to stand in front of me. Shirai and   
Haitani stood like ominous pillars on either side, and each placed one hand on my  
shoulders, effectively pinning me to the chair.  
  
Now I started to get worried. I'd been in the room when Haruka had punished  
lieutenants before, and she didn't believe in the whole pinky-finger thing.  
  
She pulled her cigarette out of her mouth and leaned in very close to my  
face. "Do you know what you're asking for? That boy your client's dealing with  
has _very_ severe problems, and they're not from locals. They're from someone  
very high in the chain."  
  
"It doesn't matter, 'baasan," I said, staring right into her eyes. "She's my  
client, and I've got to earn my fee."  
  
"I get it. She's your latest toy, isn't she? The newest of a series of women  
who'll 'ease the pain' of your being dumped by that policewoman? Is that it?"  
  
"Despite what you think, Haruka-san, you're wrong."  
  
Haruka raised her hand with the cigarette in it to less than an inch from my  
left eye. I could feel the heat - so hot, it was drying my eye, and I felt  
an overwhelming desire to blink, but I didn't.  
  
"There are some things that even I don't want to mess with. Do you understand  
that?"  
  
I would have nodded, except that would have permanently blinded me. Haruka  
saw the emotion in my eyes, then pulled the cigarette back and slapped me.  
"Get out. Don't come back. I won't help you this time. I can't afford it."  
  
I held my hand to my face, where a welt was beginning to form, and Shirai and  
Haitani pushed me out of the room. As I was shown out, Haruka sat back down and  
lit a third cigarette.  
  
Shirai and Haitani pushed me into an elevator, then tapped the "Lobby" button  
and exited it quickly. As I rode the elevator down, one thing stuck in my  
mind:  
  
Haruka was afraid of this.   
  
If it was bad enough to make her afraid, it could only be one thing - the   
zaibatsu. It took a lot to make her afraid, and I didn't want to meet the   
thing that could do that. For a second, I seriously thought of dropping   
the case -  
  
And then the image of Naru with her face marred with tears flew into my head.  
I closed my eyes and tried to will it away, but nothing happened except that  
it changed to the memory of her hugging me, and how right it felt...  
  
SHIT!  
  
I slammed my fist into the wall of the elevator. Why? Why in hell did I have  
to be this, the one who gets into everything? Dammit, I wanted a chance, and   
as I was, it was fucking nonexistant!  
  
The bell dinged, and the door opened. I rubbed the welt on my face one last  
time, and then I started walking out into the rain.  
  
My case just got harder.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES  
  
Oh, my, things certainly are getting more difficult for  
Kanako. With Haruka, the yakuza boss, denying aid to the  
private investigator, how will Kanako even progress in  
the search for Keitaro?  
  
This was done rather quickly, I admit. It took less than  
24 hours to conceive, plan, write, and upload this chapter.  
If that haste denies it quality, I apologize. If, however,  
Kanako, you find this well-written and pleasing, then my  
obligations for this chapter are complete, and I shall  
begin work upon the next posthaste.  
  
I also ask the readers to check my website. There may be   
things that you like there. The URL is on my profile page.  
And don't forget about my Fictionpress site. It's at  
Fictionpress.com/~tuxedojack. Do browse and enjoy.  
  
Lastly, many thanks to Ian Fleming and Michael Crichton's  
books "You Only Live Twice" and "Rising Sun" for the name  
of Haruka's cigarettes and the word "keiretsu." Without  
them, I wouldn't have half the knowledge (however small)  
of the Japanese businesses that I do.  
  
Tuxedo Jack  
Tuxedojack@juno.com  
June 24th, 2003 


	3. Chapter the Second: Love, Lust, and Murd...

"Ima futari wa de ai, toki wo koete yume wo miru..."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Tuxedo Jack  
~and~  
Craptacularly Spignificant Productions  
~present, with some apologies to Akamatsu~  
  
The Kyoto Liddo-Kun  
Chapter the Second  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
See the prologue for the disclaimer.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
It was hard to believe that my aunt would turn me down  
when I asked her for help. The few other times I went to  
her, she gladly sold me information.  
  
That was the kicker, I guess - I had to have something  
she wanted. Apparently, money wasn't it - or the money  
I had wasn't enough for her to overcome her fears of the  
zaibatsu.  
  
She'd slapped me around, nearly burned out my eyes, and  
thrown me into the rain; that was below par for a normal  
day for me.  
  
I had figured that she'd give me some information, and that  
information would have at least given me a lead on the case.  
Turns out that I was pretty much shafted from that end.  
  
There were a few other places I could turn when the yakuza  
wouldn't help me. A few of those were old friends. Some were  
business acquaintances. One was fairly high-placed in MITI,  
and I knew that she might be of help if it really was the  
zaibatsu behind this.  
  
I shouldered my umbrella and kept moving through the rain,  
tossing the Shinsei cigarette Haruka had given me into a  
puddle and stepping on it. Despite my inner emotions at the  
time, I didn't want to start a fire with it - I'm in too  
much damn debt to afford to be liable for any damages.  
  
The trolley came by again, and I got on board. Despite the  
fact that the second person I had to see wasn't but a mile or  
so away, it was still a mile in the rain. Besides, I still had  
things to think about.  
  
Motoko had given me much to think on - namely, that since Keitaro  
wasn't the one who had stolen whatever it was, his friend must have  
stolen it. Who was this friend? Naru should have known, but I hadn't  
bothered to get a list of his friends from her. Damn.  
  
I decided to skip my next destination - the Five-Tailed Fox bar -  
and go straight to Naru's home to get the information.  
  
I pulled out my small cellular phone - they're truly wonderous things,  
when you get around to it - and placed a call to Shinobu.  
  
"Moshi moshi, Urashima Investigations!"  
  
"Shinobu, this is Kanako. Can you give me the new client's - Narusegawa's -  
address and phone number?"  
  
The girl rattled it off like it was tattooed on the back of her hand. Shinobu  
wasn't just a consummate record-keeper, but she took damn good notes, kept  
everything neat and clean, and made a damn good cup of coffee, not to mention  
that she was _very_ easy on the eyes. I made a note - hire her as my permanent   
secretary after this whole damn thing was over.  
  
The trolley kept moving, and after a short trip, I stepped off at the front   
doors to a _very_ ritzy comdominium complex. Naru must have made serious  
money to live here - probably from her parents. _They'd pay for her lodgings  
while she went to Todai,_ I thought bitterly as I entered and flashed my ID  
to the doorman. My parents didn't do that. I was adopted, and my parents, while  
not quite as poor as churchmice, didn't help with my college expenses. One   
would think that after the abuse my adopted father heaped on me in my  
youth, he'd pay some out of guilt, but no, nothing. I paid for it on  
my own and severed ties with them that day.  
  
The elevator whisked me to a fairly high floor - around twenty or thirty. I  
lost count halfway, and I didn't want to look at the display.  
  
So sue me, I like heights like I like men.  
  
That is, I don't hate them, but I'll avoid them if I can.  
  
I stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway to the apartment number  
that Shinobu had given me. When I got there, the door was ajar, and it looked like  
it had been expertly opened with a pick, judging from the scratches on the lock.  
  
It's times like that that I wish guns weren't so damn hard to get here.  
  
Fortunately, I had a can of Mace on me. It comes in handy when I go to bars for  
information and men refuse to take the hint that I'm not interested. I pulled it  
out, dropped my coat at the door, and slipped inside. Sure enough, Naru was there,  
clad in only a towel, and she was being held at gunpoint by a fairly tall man.  
  
A man who was apparently missing his left pinky finger, I saw when I looked at his  
gun. That meant yakuza.   
  
Haruka had lied to me when she said that there were some things she didn't mess  
with. She was waist-deep in this one, and there was no way she could weasel out  
of it.  
  
Hold on a second.  
  
Haruka never disfigured her lieutenants. She never cut off their pinkies, _ever._  
Something was wrong here. These weren't her men.  
  
I kept my shoes on when I entered the condo - admittedly, they might make a bit of  
noise, but they're a hell of a weapon to kick with. The man with the gun was clearly  
an amateur. He didn't even notice me when I slipped up behind him. When I got there,  
I tapped his shoulder, then when he turned around, I Maced him, then cold-cocked him  
with a right hook. He went down without a sound, and I caught the pistol he held.  
  
Naru stood up quietly and came over to me. "There's one more in my room," she whispered  
in my ear. I nodded and left her there.   
  
The bedroom was a bit of a distance - admittedly, I'm used to Japanese apartments.   
This one was a Western-style, and as such, it was quite a bit larger. Naru was right -   
the man was there, and he was busy searching through her dresser. He snickered, and  
I saw that he'd gone into her underwear drawer. The man pulled out a semi-transparent  
panty, and for a moment, my mouth went dry at the thought of Naru in that and nothing  
else - and then he stuffed it in his pocket.  
  
That's when I cracked.  
  
"Daisuke, she calm yet?" the bastard said as he turned around. He'd expected an empty  
room with no one in there.  
  
What he got was the barrel of the pistol I'd picked up right between his eyes.  
  
The man panicked and tried to draw his pistol, but I Maced him, and he went down.  
I grabbed his gun. One pistol is hard to explain away, but two... well, I've have  
to ditch them somewhere and hope that I didn't get stopped before I got back to the  
office.  
  
Before I left, I pulled the panty out of his pocket and put it in the drawer, then  
I kicked him in the testicles.  
  
"Bastard. If she ever wanted to give that to you, she'd have done it herself."  
  
There was no way in hell I was going to leave Naru here to deal with these two men.  
Calling the police was out. Motoko would ask me what I'd been doing here, and then  
when I told her I'd been following the case, she'd tell me to drop it, since it was  
becoming dangerous.  
  
The only thing I could think of was to take Naru with me. I kicked the man once in his  
leg for good measure (and to prevent him from following us easily), then ran back to  
Naru and grabbed her hand.  
  
"Come on! We've got to get out of here before the Mace wears off!"  
  
I kicked the one called Daisuke in the legs too, just in case the Mace wore off  
quickly, and Naru and I ran for the elevator. I grabbed my coat and Naru's shoes  
at the door, and we just ran. About halfway there, it sunk into her consciousness   
that she wasn't wearing anything, and she started screaming about it. When we  
were safely inside the elevator, I took off my coat, leaving me in just a long-sleeved  
sweater and a short skirt. Naru wrapped it around her, and we rode down in relative  
peace.  
  
The second the doors opened to the main floor, I saw the last person in the world  
who I wanted to see at the moment -  
  
Kentaro Sakata.  
  
"Naru-chan," he said, his voice oozing charm and false sweetness, "I was wondering  
if you'd like to..." Then he saw me. "Oh, _Kanako,_ it's you."  
  
I sighed. "Not now, Sakata. I don't have time for this, and neither does Naru."  
I pushed past him and pulled Naru along with me. He tried to follow, but another  
trolley came by - damn, those things run practically every five damned minutes  
in this town - and Naru and I climbed aboard. He tried to follow us on, but the  
driver had started pulling away, and he was too late.  
  
We rode off, and Naru finally started shaking.  
  
"What... who were those people? Why..."  
  
I reached into the side pocket of the coat and pulled out a small silver flask.  
I unscrewed the top, passed it to Naru, and made her take a large sip. When  
she started coughing from the burn of the Suntori, I patted her on her back...  
and left my arm around her shoulder.  
  
She didn't seem to mind. She just sobbed into my sweater, and I held her  
close to me on that empty trolley. For a few precious minutes, the world  
seemed to stop.  
  
Eventually, Naru stopped crying, and she repeated her earlier question.  
"Who are those people? Are they..." She lowered her voice. She obviously believed  
in that damn taboo on saying yakuza in a normal voice. "Are they yakuza?"  
  
I shrugged. "I don't think so."  
  
"But that man - the one who had the gun on me - he was missing his pinky!"  
  
I sighed. "Naru, that can mean anything. For all we know, he lost it in an  
accident when he was a baby."  
  
She moaned. "Then who's coming after me?"  
  
"I don't know," I said. "I came to your home to try to get a list of some  
of Keitaro's friends. That way, I could see where he went that night, and  
with any luck, I might be able to find him."  
  
The rest of the ride went in silence, and when we got to the block where  
my apartment was, Naru was fast asleep in my arms. I smiled down at her.  
  
God, she looks beautiful in her sleep.  
  
At any rate, I carried her to the elevator in my building, then leaned against  
a wall, her in my arms, and prayed that I wouldn't drop her before I got her to  
my apartment.  
  
After a short walk from the elevator, I made it to my apartment. Through some  
miracle, I managed to open the door without dropping the sleeping girl, and  
after pulling back the comforter on my Western-style bed, I gently tucked her  
in.  
  
For a few seconds, I was tempted to climb in there myself and let myself  
fall asleep next to her, but some part of myself said that I'd be wrong if  
I did that. I told that part of myself in no uncertain terms to go to hell,  
but I pulled out a spare mat and blankets and slept on the floor that night.  
  
The next morning, I awoke to the smell of fresh tea and miso. To my surprise,  
Naru was cooking, and it smelled _good_.  
  
"Good morning, Kanako-san!" Naru said from the stove. She'd pulled one of  
my nightshirts out of my closet, and _damn,_ she sounded better than breakfast  
at that time.  
  
They say men have a problem like that in the morning. I wouldn't know. The whole  
world was in front of me there, and I liked it.  
  
"Ready for breakfast?" Naru smiled at me. "It's the least I could do, since you  
brought me here after those people took my home apart."  
  
I nodded blearily, and slipped off to the shower. I stripped off my clothes from  
the day before, lathered up, and began to scrub my skin. About five minutes later,  
Naru knocked on the door and offered to wash my back.  
  
I didn't refuse.  
  
While she was scrubbing, she started asking questions.  
  
"I didn't know you knew Kentaro, too. How'd you meet him?"  
  
I sighed at the pleasure her hands were giving me. "He... he once tried to get  
me to go out with him. I thought he was a jerk and blew him off. Ever since then,  
he's made it his mission to get into my pants. It'll never happen, though."  
  
"Not your type?"  
  
I smirked. "You could say that."  
  
"Hair?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Should I wash your hair, too?"  
  
My body would have exploded then if she'd touched me any more. I shook my head,  
and she stepped out and let me dry off. We ate silently, and then made the short  
trip to my office, her in a borrowed outfit, me in a long black dress and shawl.  
  
It was still raining, and it didn't look like it was going to clear up any time  
soon. I sighed, and Naru shivered. I passed her my coat again, and she slipped  
it on.  
  
At the office, Shinobu gasped when she saw Naru. I could see why when she   
passed me an envelope containing a note.   
  
"They found him, but they didn't find his friend or the item. He's dead."  
  
The handwriting on the note wasn't familiar, and it wasn't signed, but I knew   
who sent it.   
  
How did I know? Simple.  
  
There was a tea leaf in the envelope.  
  
Naru gasped and sat down on a sofa, sobbing. "Keitaro..."  
  
I sat down and wrapped my arms around her, just like I did on the trolley ride  
the previous day. She just kept crying for what seemed like hours and hours, and  
even after she fell asleep from the effort, she kept shaking from the emotions.  
  
It was personal now. Whoever hurt Naru like this was going to pay. I'd see to it  
myself.  
  
I had only two questions: Who did it, and why?  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES  
  
Plot exposition. It's fun, isn't it?  
  
And no, Keitaro is only dead for story purposes. In reality, he's off eating  
the snacks and drinks meant for the rest of the cast and crew between shoots.  
I'll send Craptacularly Spignificant Catering over to deal with that.  
  
Apparently, I seem to be on some kind of writing jag, as evidenced by  
the reference guide, two chapters of this, and the chapter of Hinagelion  
I put out in only five days. No, I don't use proofreaders, so it goes a bit  
faster, and I write in Wordpad, not Word or any of that crap, so .txt format  
is very easy for me to do.  
  
I'm staggering the chapters of this and Hinagelion, so you'll get updates  
for each series in alternating succession. Next up is the End of Hinagelion,  
part 1.  
  
And Kanako-san: In reference to your comments on Hinagelion, I'd much prefer  
Kitsune or Mutsumi. I believe Yuki would kill me, and I've not read about   
Antoinette yet (an error which I shall soon rectify), but from your comments,   
I'll assume she's of the same general disposition.  
  
Until the next chapter,  
  
Ja.  
  
J.R. Chiles II  
Tuxedo Jack  
Tuxedojack@juno.com  
  
users3.ev1.net/~jchiles  
Click the Senshi no Eisei logo for my stuff, but check out the other people's  
sites, too!  
  
"I'll know the right way when I see it." 


	4. Chapter the Third: The Thief, the Bar, a...

"Fukai, fukai mori no oku ni, imamu kitto okizari ni shita kokoro kawatte yuku."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Tuxedo Jack  
~and~  
Craptacularly Spignificant Productions  
~present, with some apologies to Akamatsu~  
  
The Kyoto Liddo-Kun  
Chapter the Fourth  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
See the prologue for the disclaimer.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
You'd think that the zaibatsu would give a guy a chance to explain away  
the stolen property in his possession before they killed him, but no, they  
apparently didn't. Not only that, the guy they whacked didn't even have  
what they went after.  
  
And since murders were always solved here in Japan (though usually by the  
police), those guys were in it deep.  
  
Not only did I have to deal with a murder and stolen property, I had the  
dead guy's girlfriend sobbing against my chest. It wasn't a normal day, believe  
it or not.  
  
Shinobu'd slipped out discreetly, and Naru practically cried herself to sleep  
before she let go of me. She looked straight into my eyes, and the diamond teards  
that were still on her face glittered in the dim light of my office.  
  
"Kanako-san... what can I do? Keitaro's gone, I can't go back to my apartment..."  
Naru sighed.  
  
I wiped away the tears from her face and looked straight into her eyes. "If  
you stay with me, they can't find you. They don't know who I am, and they  
can't easily find me."  
  
She gasped. "Kanako-san, do you mean it?"  
  
I nodded. "You can stay with me as long as you need to." I gently disengaged  
myself from her, stood up, and went to the coatrack. I pulled my coat on,  
and spoke again. "Stay here. Don't leave the office. They're going to hunt for you,  
and there's nowhere that's safer than here."  
  
"But... Kanako-san, there's nothing to keep me safe here!"  
  
"You see that girl at the desk in the next room?" Naru nodded, and I smirked.  
"She's got a set of throwing knives in her desk, and there's not much that's  
going to get past her if she's determined enough."  
  
I walked out of the room before Naru could say anything, and I turned to  
Shinobu on the way out. "Make sure she doesn't leave. If she has to use  
the bathroom, you go with her, and you go armed."  
  
I stepped outside and pulled the coat around me. It had gotten rainy recently,  
and I didn't want to catch cold. The trolley pulled up - deus ex machina, I believe -  
and I boarded. It was time to take up where I left off - the "Five-Tailed Kitsune"  
bar.   
  
After a short trip, I stepped off the trolley in front of the bar. Technically, it  
shouldn't have been open yet, since very few people drink before ten in the morning,  
and the proprietess wasn't exactly one to spend money where it wasn't needed...  
except when it came to greasing the palms of the local authorities. When that woman  
did that, she was a master of graft.  
  
Needless to say, Motoko had complained about it when she and I had dated. Come  
to think of it, that's probably why she left me - work, work, and work.  
  
I knocked on the bar's doors, and a minute later, a slide in it opened at eye  
level. Someone pered out and seemed to take note of who I was. After a short wait,  
presumably caused by that someone's revealing to the proprietess who I was, the  
door opened, and I was admitted into a long dark hallway.  
  
After a short walk, I entered the subdued atmosphere of the Five-Tailed Kitsune.  
The lights were dim, the colors dark and muted, but soft jazz played throughout  
the whole place, and in one corner, an empty stage stood with speakers and band  
equipment.  
  
"Kanako!" a woman's voice said from my left. "I haven't seen you here in a _long_   
time!"  
  
I turned to see the smiling face of Mitsune Konno, owner and operator of the  
Five-Tailed Kitsune, and smiled back in return. "It certainly has been a while,  
Kitsune. Has Motoko been harassing you again?"  
  
"It's nothing that a few packages can't handle," she replied with a grin. "How's  
business?"  
  
"That's what I'm here about," I said. "A client of mine mentioned that her boyfriend  
went missing, and this is a popular bar among Todai students."  
  
Kitsune's eyes widened, and her smile went even wider. "Oh, a _client_, eh?"  
  
"Kitsune..."  
  
"All right, all right. Who is this guy?"   
  
"The name's Keitaro. That's all I've got. He's about a hundred and seventy-five  
centimeters tall, brown hair, brown eyes, glasses."  
  
I'd expected a response from Kitsune, but not the one she gave me.  
  
"Oh, the ladies' man!"  
  
My eyes narrowed. Naru was _not_ going to be happy about this. "What do you mean,  
'ladies' man'?"  
  
"Um... nothing much. It's just that whenever he came in, he seemed to attract every  
woman in the bar." Her brow furrowed for a minute. "And one man, too, come to think  
of it."  
  
"A man?" Naru hadn't told me that Keitaro was bisexual. That information might have come  
in handy.  
  
"Yeah, but there wasn't any romance going on between them. It's like they were old  
friends or something."  
  
Damn, there went my theory about Keitaro playing around. "What did they do?"  
  
"Well, they always shooed everyone else away, then they talked for a while, and  
every now and again, Keitaro passed the other guy money. The last time they were  
in here was about two weeks ago, come to think of it."  
  
Two weeks? Naru had waited that long to come and ask someone for help? Something  
was up here. _Very_ suspicious.  
  
"It's weird though, Kanako, since that man's been coming in here every night for  
the past week or so."  
  
"He has?"  
  
Kitsune nodded. "He's come in every night around ten, and he doesn't leave until   
closing. The bartender told me that he's been muttering something about Keitaro  
and a plushie. This guy's clearly got kinky taste in toys."  
  
I planted my face in my palm. "Kitsune, I'll be back here tonight. Ten, you said?"  
She nodded. "Good. I'll be here at nine," I replied. "Keep a table open for me."  
  
As I got up and left, I could hear the sound of a _giant_ sake bottle being  
opened, and I remembered that Kitsune had gotten out of a treatment facility  
a few years back.  
  
I sighed. Some things never change.  
  
After a short wait, another trolley came by, and I boarded. While returning  
to the office, I thought that I had about nine hours to get ready for the  
stakeout at the bar, and I figured I'd best be on my guard from here on out.  
If Keitaro and that man were dealing in stolen goods, who knows who would  
come after me.  
  
I got off the trolley at my stop and went up to my office. Shinobu was there,  
cleaning her throwing knives. She smiled at me.  
  
"Hello, Kanako-san!"  
  
"How's Naru?"  
  
She pointed to my office. "She tried to sneak out the window a little while ago.  
As per your instructions, I shut it _tight_. She can't get out."  
  
I grinned. "Good. Shinobu, take the day off and get ready. You're coming with us  
on a stakeout tonight." I winced at Shinobu's squeal of delight. "And dress nice.  
This place is classy."  
  
I knocked on the door to my office, and when no response was forthcoming, I  
entered. Naru lay asleep on my sofa, her chest rising and falling in time with her  
breath. I took off my coat, sat down in my chair, and leaned back to think.  
  
Three things were certain -   
  
1: Keitaro had dealt in stolen goods.  
2: Keitaro was a ladies' man.  
3: Keitaro was very, very dead.  
  
The way I saw it, there were only a few possibilities. One was that the goods he  
had attracted the anger of the zaibatsu, and they'd killed him for it. This was  
easily the most probable.   
  
The second was that Naru had contracted out to have him killed for cheating on  
her. However, this didn't add up. She had described him as utterly faithful, and  
then there was that little phone call the night he disappeared. No, she didn't  
do it.  
  
I lowered my head and dozed off for a while. When I woke up, Naru was still asleep  
and the clock read eight P.M. I stepped over to her, gently shook her awake, and  
smiled when she saw me.  
  
"Hey, Naru, wake up. We've got some work to do."  
  
"We?" she said weakly. "I hired you to do this."  
  
"I know. I need you to come with me and see if you recognize anyone."  
  
She sat bolt upright. "You've found..."  
  
I shook my head. "No. I found a place he frequented, and I thought you might  
be able to point out some people there." I refrained from telling her Kitsune's  
comment that Keitaro was quite a ladies' man. There was no point in telling her  
about that; it'd only hurt her.  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"The Five-Tailed Kitsune bar," I said. "You know of it?"  
  
"That... that's where we met," she said quietly. "We met there thanks to  
Seta..."  
  
I frowned. "Look, we've got an hour and a half to get ready. Think you can squeeze  
into something of mine?"  
  
Naru nodded, and we made our way to my apartment. I pulled on a sleek black dress  
with no shoulders, and Naru found a dark blue dress of mine. Admittedly, it was  
more of a sheath than a dress, but it clung, and set off her natural beauty. We   
met Shinobu at the door of the bar. I nodded to the man behind the door, and we   
were in.  
  
Kitsune greeted us with a few rounds on the house, and we sat down to watch the  
crowd.  
  
"Naru, if you see anyone you know, let me know."  
  
"All right, Kanako-san," she said quietly, as a saxophone player got up on stage  
and began to play something out of an old anime - something that Yoko Kanno wrote,  
I think. "See You, Space Cowboy," or something like that. I don't know, I'm not  
a fangirl. Shinobu nodded in time with it, though, so she knew what it was.  
  
After an hour and a few drinks (which Kitsune kept sending us, despite my  
requests to the contrary), Naru hadn't noticed anyone. Another thirty minutes  
passed. More music was played, more drinks were drunk, and still no one came  
in. Around eleven, though, a man with glasses wandered in, and Naru gasped.  
  
"That's Seta!"  
  
I stared at the man. "Seta?"  
  
"He's how Keitaro and I met. He works for some big keiretsu - Mitsubishi or  
Sony or Gainax or someone." She gasped. "The zaibatsu..."  
  
Damn! She figured it out. This wasn't good. I bent over and tapped Shinobu's  
shoulder. She leaned back to me.  
  
"Go and get the ash-haired woman at the bar. Ask her if the guy who just walked  
in is the one who met with Keitaro every night. If she says yes, bring him back  
here. Just do it," I said, and she nodded. She left, and Naru and I were alone   
at the table.  
  
A few seconds later...  
  
"Naru-chan!"  
  
Oh, no, not him again.  
  
"And _Kanako-san_!"  
  
Naru grimaced. "Just play along, okay? We'll get rid of him quick."  
  
Kentaro Sakata wandered over, drink in hand. "Ladies, how are you doing tonight?"  
When he saw Naru's frown, he continued. "Oh, my, then." He snapped his fingers.  
"Bartender! See that these two ladies lack for nothing!"  
  
"That's not it, Kentaro. We're just not interested in you," Naru said.  
  
"You're not?"  
  
"That's right, we're not," Naru evenly replied. "Kanako and I are here together,"  
she said, clasping one of her hands over my unoccupied one.  
  
I believe that I was even more startled than Kentaro at that moment.  
  
"You mean..."  
  
"Yes, that's right," Naru said.  
  
And then she leaned over and kissed me.  
  
She.  
  
Kissed.  
  
Me.  
  
She knew how to kiss, too. Not enough to seem pushy, just enough to make it  
seem like your very essence was being poured into the kiss, and... and...  
was that her tongue?  
  
Whatever it was, I liked it.  
  
A little too much, apparently, as I felt a twinge begin in me.  
  
Kentaro stumbled off blathering something, and Naru broke away, smiling.  
"Good, he's gone." She looked apologetically at me. "Sorry I had to do that,  
Kanako-san," she said.  
  
"It's... it's all right," I whispered. "You can do that any time you want."  
  
Naru was puzzled for a moment, and then it hit her. Her eyes opened wide, and  
she was about to speak when Shinobu came back with Seta in tow.  
  
"Seta!" Naru squealed and leapt from her seat to hug him. She sat back down,  
and Seta pulled up a fourth chair.  
  
"So, Naru-chan, who's this?" he said, tilting his glasses and looking straight  
at me. I stared back at him with just a touch of suspicion.  
  
"This is Kanako," she said, without a hint of inflection as to just _what_ I  
was. In a sense, I was grateful for that - but I can hope. "She's going to  
find Keitaro."  
  
She almost cracked after she said that. Seta was worse off. He gasped.  
  
"You mean he's missing?"  
  
"No," I shot back. "He's dead."  
  
Seta sighed and took off his glasses. He leaned forward, placed his head in  
his hands, and moaned. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Very. The person I got the information from is known for her precision."  
  
"Then it's my fault," he whispered. "I killed him, just as sure as I gave it  
to him."  
  
Naru started crying again, and Shinobu held her close while I stared at Seta.  
"What do you mean, you killed him?"  
  
"I gave it to him," he said. "I who stole the documents from the computers  
at NEC. I put them on a disk, slipped the disk inside a Liddo-kun plushie,  
and gave it to Keitaro."  
  
"I don't understand," I said. "How could he get killed if you stole the plans?  
And what were the plans for?"  
  
"He had the plushie with the floppy inside it," Seta muttered. "They must have  
kept logs on who used the copy commands... and now, he's dead..."  
  
"How did they trace it to him?"  
  
"They must have seen me give it to him in here," he said. "But... why..."  
  
"They don't have it, Seta," I said quietly. "They still want it, and they're  
trying to kill Naru for it."  
  
That got his attention. "They wouldn't! They're just fixed financial records -  
they're nothing special!"  
  
"They're important enough to kill someone over," I said. "You gave Keitaro the data.  
What was he going to do with them?"  
  
"He... what we were going to do was blackmail them with it. It's purely financial,"  
he replied. "We both needed the money, and this was the easiest way to get it."  
  
"Hard enough for him," I said. "However he died, it wasn't pretty. The men that  
the keiretsu sent after him must have been professionals."  
  
"If the keiretsu knows, then I'm as good as dead," Seta said. He put his glasses   
back on, dropped a wad of money on the table, and stood. "Naru, I'm sorry I brought  
this on you, and I'm sorry that I got Keitaro killed. I guess it's time that I  
faced my punishment too."   
  
"Don't be a damn fool, Seta," I snapped. "If you die, then all hope of finding the  
plushie goes with you. If we don't find it, odds are that they're going to be coming  
after us even more than ever."  
  
He walked out of the bar, completely ignoring me.  
  
"Seta," Naru sobbed. "Kanako, won't you..."  
  
I shook my head. "If it's what he wants, I can't stop him."  
  
At least we had a clue now on what we were looking for - a single Liddo-kun plushie  
with a floppy disk inside containing proof that the keiretsu Seta had worked for had  
altered its financial records. After the collapse of the gaijin corporations Enron  
and Worldcom, this would be huge, and potentially enough to topple the company  
entirely - certainly enough to kill someone for.  
  
Now all we had to do was find the plushie. Once we did that, we could barter it  
for our lives - if we were lucky.  
  
A man approached our table, and Shinobu and I looked at him suspiciously in the  
dim light - and then we realized it was Haitani.  
  
"Haruka told me to tell you that they're on to you," he said quietly. "They're  
angry, and they think you've got the item they want. She also swears that the  
men who attacked Naru are not hers in any way, shape, or form."  
  
"Tell her that we know that. I know she'd never do _that_ to her men, and those  
men were obviously not hers. Mention punishment to her. She'll understand."  
  
Haitani nodded. "One last thing. She told me to tell you that she'll use all her  
resources to look for this thing you need if you find it necessary. She believes  
that she could use it to her advantage when dealing with NEC."  
  
I nodded. "She can look. I want full knowledge if she gets even a hint of where it  
is, since there's more on the table now than you can dream about."  
  
He shook his head. "I know. These games are becoming more and more dangerous. I'm  
thinking I should take early retirement. Haruka-sama says that she would welcome  
my staying at her house."  
  
"You wish," I replied with a dry smile. "Give her my best."  
  
Haitani nodded and slipped out. I hoped he followed Seta. That man was going to  
need help soon.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES  
  
Ack, this was off the normal KLK groove. I don't know why;  
I'm slightly confused at the moment myself, seeing as it's  
two in the damn morning and I've got to get some sleep.  
  
This was conceived and written over three days while  
dining on Rice Krispies (raw, no milk), Dr. Pepper, and  
a steady audio diet of nothing but opera (Yoko Kanno's  
"Ave Maria," Michiru Yamane's "Crucifix of Fate," and  
Nobuo Uematsu's "Aria di Mezzo Carraterre," to name a  
few).  
  
Why does Kitsune own a bar, you ask? Well, it's Kitsune.  
Everyone has to have some dreams, ne?  
  
About Seta: Someone had to be a Random Exposition Thief  
in this. I figured that he'd be perfect for the role.  
  
The End of Hinagelion is very near. I've actually been  
considering turning it into a Flash movie, so if anyone   
out there desires to be a seiyuu, let me know. My mail  
address is in this fic.  
  
Talon and Kebinu: I would like to speak with you as   
soon as possible via IM. I have some private matters  
to discuss with you. My ICQ and AIM are on my profile,   
and you can usually find me in #improfanfic on irc.sandwich.net.  
  
Finally, I always have two fics going at once. Once I  
finish Hinagelion, my second fic will be either "Cid's  
Laboratory," a final Love Hina fusion, or MSMT3K.  
  
Ja.  
  
Tuxedo Jack  
Tuxedojack@juno.com  
July 2nd, 2003  
  
"Et nomini Pater, et Filiae, et Spiritus Santi, amen." 


	5. Chapter the Fourth: Kimi no Koto wa Itsu...

"Sukete, mieteru wakare de, moe nagara; tsugi no meguriai mo, mata   
anata ga ii to! Ai wa fukaku naru hodo, yokubari de, toiki sae shibaritai,  
rifujin, soredemo!"  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Tuxedo Jack  
~and~  
Craptacularly Spignificant Productions  
~present~  
  
The Kyoto Liddo-Kun  
Chapter the Fifth  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
See the prologue for a disclaimer.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Life had gone to hell in a handbasket.  
  
It wasn't really a surprise, though; I was used to it. First my  
oniisan left the house when I was young thanks to our parents' - my  
adoptive parents - abuse, and I don't see him for years. Come to  
think of it, I still haven't seen him.  
  
After that, I go through college, get my PI license, and end up in a  
hellhole of an office with very little business - just enough to scrape  
by and pay my secretary with. Oh, and then she quits, leaving me with an  
admittedly _extremely_ competent and stunning temp...  
  
And then _she_ walks in.  
  
Her boyfriend's gone, and she hires me to find him. Turns out he's dead.  
What a surprise. She cries on my shoulder for a while, then we go to stake  
out a bar, and she ends up slipping me tongue.  
  
Did I mention that she's drop-dead gorgeous, and I can't touch her since  
she's probably not interested in me?  
  
Yeah, life's a bitch.  
  
The name's Kanako Urashima, but if you've read the other chapters of this  
story, you know that already.  
  
After Seta left the bar, we - Shinobu, Naru, and I - waited a while, and  
had a few nonalcoholic drinks to counteract the alcohol we'd had while we  
waited. We knew that the keiretsu were going to follow him, and if they knew  
that we'd been meeting with him... well, suffice it to say, we'd be joining  
Keitaro in the afterlife.  
  
At eleven-thirty or so, we headed out. Shinobu left the bar first, followed  
by myself, and Naru followed me, her hand in mine to make it look as if we  
were lovers.  
  
Purely as distraction for the men who we _knew_ were out there, of course.  
If they caught us... oh, man, we'd be screwed.  
  
We kept moving, boarding the trolley, and then riding back to my house.  
Naru was nearly asleep, so I held her on my shoulders, and Shinobu unlocked my  
door for me. We moved into my apartment, Naru on my back, and...  
  
"You took your time, didn't you?"  
  
A woman's voice came out of the shadows where I knew my good leather chair  
to be. She snapped her fingers, and the lights came on, revealing two men  
by the door and herself in the good chair.  
  
Damn it to hell, I knew her.  
  
She had long brown hair in a ponytail, a perpetual smile, and a watermelon  
embroidered on her jacket. This woman also didn't pull punches. When she  
saw something she wanted, she got it, by whatever means necessary.  
  
My look of surprise was exactly what she'd expected. "Ara ara, Urashima-san,  
didn't you think that I'd come after what's mine?"  
  
"It's not like I didn't expect you to," I whispered. "Mutsumi-san, you shouldn't  
have come here."  
  
"Why not?" she said, smiling. "You have something I want, and I intend to get it  
back from you."  
  
Shinobu wrapped her arms around me, trying to hold on to one anchor in the wash - and  
Mutsumi snapped her fingers, and her two men grabbed Naru and pulled her to the   
door. They slipped out, and Shinobu started shaking as she pressed up against me in  
fear.  
  
"Until you find that disk, Kanako, your little girlfriend's going to stay with me."  
Mutsumi said, rising from her seat and walking to the door. "You'd best hurry, as  
my patience wears thin quickly. You have my number at NEC."  
  
She left, and Shinobu stood next to me, her arms around my waist, head on my shoulder,  
and shaking like a leaf. I just burned with fury, wishing that I'd had a semiautomatic  
to take out Mutsumi and her men.  
  
"Damn it," I cursed, bringing my fist down _hard_ onto the armrest of my good chair.  
"Of all the things that bitch could have done..."  
  
"Kanako-san, just go after her," Shinobu said quietly, letting go of me  
and going to the chair.  
  
I shook my head. "She's gone by now. She's got a car outside, and I don't,  
so I can't follow her. I know where she's going to end up, though."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"NEC headquarters," I muttered, thinking carefully. "Right down the street  
from Todai, come to think of it. I'd go rescue Naru if I could, but I think  
a trade might be better here."  
  
"How come?"  
  
I smiled dryly. "I can't exactly burst in and pull a Spike Spiegel on the  
guards a la episode twenty-six, can I?"  
  
Shinobu placed her chin on her arm and frowned. "I guess you can't. How  
are you going to get the disk, though? Seta said he gave it to Keitaro,  
and if Keitaro didn't have it when the NEC keiretsu people killed him,  
where is it?"  
  
I shrugged. "That I don't know. There are a few people I can talk to,  
and with any luck, I'll get a hint."  
  
She left a little later, and went home to sleep after I gave her the next  
day off. I went to bed myself a little while later, and as I lay there  
in the darkness, thoughts ran through my head.  
  
_Mutsumi wanted Naru._  
  
_She called her my "little girlfriend."_  
  
_Naru didn't protest that._  
  
_How come she didn't? Could she have been in shock, or too tired to  
resist?_  
  
_Or maybe, just maybe..._  
  
I groaned, rolled over, and went to sleep.  
  
The next morning, it was raining. I almost didn't want to get out of bed  
thanks to it - well, that and the fact that I'd have to go out into it  
to complete my assignments for the day. I did eventually get up, however,  
and I dressed in black pants and a red sweater, slipping my trenchcoat  
over it all before I walked outside into a cool wind.  
  
Despite its reputation as an on-time service, the trolley ran late that day,  
as I rode it to the monorail station, I had time to formulate a plan to  
deal with the women I'd have to see today.  
  
One was fairly high up at METI, and she knew all kinds of tricks - stuff  
that I couldn't begin to comprehend even if she implanted the knowledge of  
them straight into my mind. The other... well, Haruka was going to be a  
problem. She'd blown me off once before, and despite her sending Haitani to  
me the previous night, I thought that I'd have to take her at face value  
for once.  
  
If she truly meant that she'd wanted to find the disk, and she wanted it bad,  
she was as dangerous to me as the keiretsu.  
  
I was being pulled in three directions, and all of them were equally dangerous -   
two to my body, one to my heart.  
  
Eventually, the trolley reached the station, and I departed it, walked to the  
ticket machine, and slipped in ten thousand yen for an open round-trip ticket  
to Tokyo. If this problem was going to be fixed, it was there. It would be about  
an hour until my train left, so I figured that I'd get a quick meal.  
  
On my short walk to a nearby beef bowl stand, something seemed off. I  
checked my pockets - I wasn't missing anything, and the small items that  
I'd brought to help me out in case I was attacked were still there. It  
just felt like something was... unusual.  
  
A few minutes later, when someone's hand clamped down on my shoulder,  
I knew just what was bothering me.  
  
I was being followed.  
  
The hand turned me around, and I ended up facing two men in suits. One  
reached into his jacket, and I had barely a second to react before he  
pulled out a small syringe. He drove it forwards, barely missing my arm,   
and I screamed "RAPE!" and kicked him hard in the crotch before flinging   
myself aside and attacking the other guy.  
  
His fist came towards me, but the crowds around the beef bowl counter closed in  
and pulled him away, waiting for a policeman to arrive to take the two into  
custody. In the meantime, I slipped through the crowds, and got onto the train  
leaving for Tokyo.  
  
I locked the door to my compartment and pulled out my cellular phone, intending  
to make a quick call to Shinobu, but it rang before I could dial. Frowning, I  
answered it, and the bright voice of the woman I'd intended to meet came across  
clear as day, thanks to the illegal equipment she used to boost her signals.  
  
"Kanako-san! Heyas! How's things?"  
  
I shrugged, but inwardly I quailed. That girl scared the hell out of me, and  
for good reaason. She was an obscure technogeek at METI, but she had access to  
some of the world's most advanced gear.  
  
"Not good, Su-chan. I'm on my way to Tokyo to see you, as a matter of fact."  
  
"Oh, Su-chan already knows that, Kanako-san," Su said over the phone in a very  
calm, controlled (for her, anyway) manner. "Su-chan tracked your cellular signal!  
So what are you coming here for?"  
  
"I need you to write something for me, Su-chan," I muttered into the phone.  
"I want you to write me a trojan, one that can tell me if someone's got a certain  
document open, and one that can't be detected by antivirus software."  
  
"Oh, that's easy," she said. "Su-chan can do that in a few thousand lines  
of code!"  
  
"Good," I muttered. "How about we meet for lunch somewhere? I don't want anyone  
to bug this conversation or anything."  
  
"Wai! Su-chan knows a good curry restaurant near the METI building! Meet Su-chan  
there, Kanako-san!" She disconnected, and I shut my phone after shaking my head.  
That girl scared me.  
  
A few hours later, I stepped off the monorail to the sights and sounds of Tokyo.  
It wasn't hard to catch a subway train from there, and eventually, I exited the  
cramped (albeit speedy) subway at Toranomon Station. After a quick walk to the  
east, passing a police box along the way, I saw the tanned form of Su running  
down the street, and I waved at her.  
  
"Oy, Su-chan! Over here!"  
  
She turned, and in the second it took her to see me, things went from bad to worse.  
A car screeched to a stop, and with a start, I recognized the two men getting out  
of it - the two back from the Hinata train station.  
  
They didn't look too happy.  
  
"Oh, _shit_," I muttered, and turned - only to see the two from Naru's apartment.  
This wasn't good. They were searching for someone, and I'd have laid good odds that  
it was me. Fortunately, before they got to me, I stepped on a manhole, and the thing   
opened under me. I let out a yelp, mostly out of surprise, half of shock, as I fell   
and slid down some weird kind of slide, ending up in a sterile laboratory - or what  
would have passed for sterile were it not for all the banana peels covering the  
floor.  
  
"Wai! Kanako-san found my secret laboratory!" Su said from her chair before  
leaping up and bounding over to glomp me.  
  
I failed to dodge her, as she seemed to have a homing sense in her or   
something. She glomped me, rather hard, and I pried her off. "Hello,   
Su-chan. How've things been going?"  
  
"Oh, good, good," Su said offhandedly as she passed me a disk. "I've   
been programming!" She grinned. "You mentioned you wanted something special,   
right?" I nodded, and she continued. "This program here'll search for   
any file on any computer in the world matching certain data and it'll   
relay it to my station!"  
  
"But how is it going to get past firewalls and such, Su-chan?"  
  
"Oh, that's easy," she said with a shrug. "It's going to tack the   
information in on an encrypted packet that'll go to the user's site,   
and from there, they'll be relayed to me."  
  
I shook my head. I didn't even _want_ to know. "And how are you going to   
get it on the computers?"  
  
Su smirked. "I'm calling it a critical update for Windows XP."  
  
"Makes sense."   
  
Su went over to her workstation, typed in a few commands, and leaned   
back in her chair. "That's it! The program's on the Internet, and within   
a few hours, people'll start downloading it." She blinked, then sat upright.   
"Oh, damn."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Someone had a tracer on my equipment!" She started jabbing at her   
keyboard, and she turned to me, her face pale. "Get out of here. They're   
coming." I hesitated, and then she screamed. "GO!"  
  
Something shot up from under me, and I was catapulted violently up a   
few dozen feet into the street, where I somehow managed to land on my   
feet. I started running - I didn't care to where, just so long as it was   
away from Su's lab. A few minutes later, a loud blast came from where I'd   
been, and I turned around to see a huge cloud of smoke coming from   
what once was Su's lab.  
  
Now it didn't make sense. Was Mutsumi trying to have me killed? Maybe. She'd   
make me give her the disk, then she'd kill me, and she'd kill Naru to boot just  
to keep this secret.  
  
So who was it who set off the blast? Su herself? Despite her abysmal   
track record at keeping machines running, I seriously doubt she'd destroy   
her own laboratory... unless that was her particular method of spring   
cleaning, in which case I'd give it an excellent chance.  
  
A thought ran through my mind, and I stopped short.  
  
Haruka?  
  
Could she have tried to do me in?  
  
All she needed was to talk to Su and get the data from her instead of   
me, and she'd take care of two problems with one stone. She didn't want   
to screw with the zaibatsu, so she'd get the disk, get the files, and   
waste me so she could lord it over Mitsubishi, and possibly even get   
control of the company.  
  
I wouldn't put it past her...  
  
No. Haruka was definitely not a threat at the moment.  
  
When the time came, I'd deal with her, and only then. As for now, I had to get  
out of there, and do it fast. I continued running until I couldn't run anymore -  
literally. I was panting, breathing like a racehorse, and it wouldn't have been  
hard to shoot me down there. No bullet came, though, and it sounded like I was  
in the clear for the moment. For some reason, though, I was _hungry_. I guess  
near-death escapades will do that.  
  
I walked down the street, and for some reason, a desire for udon struck me. It  
wasn't too hard to find a stool at a nearby noodle stand, and as I sat down, a  
soft, feminine hand clamped down on my shoulders.  
  
"Ara ara, I see you've been busy," the owner of the hand said over my shoulder.  
I winced and turned. Sure enough, Mutsumi stood there, no bodyguards in sight.  
With a sigh, I turned back to my udon.  
  
"Where's Naru?"  
  
"One bowl of your udon, please!" she said with a wide grin to the cook, and as  
he started preparing the noodles, she turned to me with a smirk. "Where's my disk?"  
  
"I'd have it already if your mooks hadn't blown up my contact's laboratory."  
  
Mutsumi's eyes went wide. "That explosion earlier?"  
  
I snorted. "What, you think that I don't know that was your men? It's not hard to  
see that you want me dead, Mutsumi."  
  
She let out a little gasp as the bowl of noodles was placed in front of her, and  
after sucking down a few, she sighed happily. "Ara ara, they're almost orgasmic.  
That's why I always come here - this chef is a master." She turned back to me.  
"And he's discreet, so we'll cut the crap, Kanako. You've got forty-eight hours  
to get the disk back to me, or I kill Naru in front of you." She nibbled on two  
more noodles, and then continued with a wide grin on her face. "And you'd better  
get it back to me."  
  
Mutsumi snapped her fingers, and out of nowhere, two men in suits   
brought Naru forward. I started when I saw who they were - they were   
the ones from Naru's apartment!  
  
"Did your goons have a fun time going through Naru's undergarments, Mutsumi?"  
I said, daggers of ice in my voice.   
  
She narrowed her eyes and turned to the one who I'd kicked in the testicles.  
"Hikaru, I see you've been indulging in your tastes on the job again."  
  
The man's eyes widened, then he bowed. "Yes, Otohime-sama. However, we were  
also searching her drawers for the object."  
  
"Then it is excused, on one condition," Mutsumi said as she turned back to her  
noodles.  
  
"The condition, Otohime-sama?" Hikaru said.  
  
"The girl will slap you."  
  
With that, Naru wound up and slugged Hikaru. He flew a good distance - about  
as far as one of my "special" punches would have flung him - and the other man,  
Daisuke, if memory served - moved in to subdue Naru, but she broke free and ran  
to me.  
  
She latched on to me, wrapping her arms around my neck, and I started. "Naru-chan!"  
  
"Let's get out of here," she whispered.  
  
"Agreed," I muttered, looking at Mutsumi, still slurping her noodles, and  
Daisuke, who was trying to wake Hikaru up.  
  
I grabbed her hand, and we ran.  
  
Mutsumi stood up behind us and sighed. "Ara ara, that's not nice." She  
flipped open her cellphone and issued orders to her mooks as we ran, and then  
sat back down and continued eating.  
  
Suffice it to say, we weren't going to get far.  
  
After a few blocks, Naru was panting, and her stamina was spent, so we slipped  
into a nearby building. It was only when she started blushing and squirming her hand  
inside mine, when I realized what building we'd ducked into.  
  
A love hotel.  
  
Goddammit, it had to be that. Of all the damn buildings in Tokyo, it _HAD_ to be  
a love hotel.  
  
Naru murmured something to me, but I shook my head. "No time. We've got to hide."  
With just a hint of a blush, I grabbed a key from the dispenser and slipped into   
an elevator, pulling Naru behind me. She wasn't worried, though. If anything, she was  
blushing a little more than I was.  
  
When the doors opened, we stepped out, and I looked through the corridor to see if  
anyone was there. With a quick glance, I saw no one, and so we ran down the hall to   
the room. The card key unlocked the door; I shoved Naru in, ran in, and slammed the   
door behind us.  
  
I sighed. "We're probably going to be stuck here a while, Naru-chan. I suggest  
you take a shower and clean up. I'll stand guard."  
  
"Kanako-chan," Neu said. I turned around to her - I'd been facing the door and  
checking the small item in the secret pocket of my coat. Yeah, even I have a secret  
pocket or two. I'm no Minnie May Hopkins, though - I used to only carry a knife, but  
thanks to this episode, I've had to upgrade a bit. Su's stuff... that did the trick.  
  
"Kanako-chan, what are we going to do?" Naru whispered, tears flowing down her  
face. "Mutsumi's after me, and Keitaro's... and you're..."  
  
I sighed, turned to Naru, and cupped her chin in my hands, then used my thumbs  
to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. "Naru-chan, kimo no koto wa itsudemo  
mamoru."  
  
Her eyes went wide, and she gasped. Through her tears, she smiled, and  
with a soft sob, she spoke haltingly. "Yakusoku yo?"  
  
"Yakusoku desu," was all I had time to say before she covered my mouth  
with her lips.  
  
Gods, it was sweeter than the first time; true passion behind it, delicious  
tenderness, restrained passion, dark lust, bright love, happiness, that  
damnably comfortable ache that comes from being separated from your koibito,  
completion...  
  
It was all that and more.  
  
We stayed that way, in that sweet embrace, that oblivion of bliss, for  
what seemed all eternity - but in reality, it was for a mere few minutes,  
and when I awoke from the lethe of sensation, my hands were on the zipper  
of Naru's dress, hers were on my rear, and my mouth ended up on her neck  
while she was gasping for breath.  
  
"Matte," I muttered, pulling back. "Chotto matte, Naru-chan..."  
  
And just then, a soft click sounded from the door, and Mutsumi stepped  
in, pistol in hand.  
  
"Ara ara, am I interrupting something?"  
  
I hissed in anger. "You!"  
  
"That's right," Mutsumi said, her eyes smirking, her hand twitching.  
"If you give me my disk, you can have your Naru. Do I have my disk?  
No. Therefore you cannot have your Naru."  
  
Naru clenched onto me, and I started to reach into my coat to  
draw out the item I had inside... but... but...  
  
Mutsumi aimed her pistol towards my midsection. "A gut shot is a miserable  
way to die, Kanako-san. Are you sure you want that? Just come quietly, Naru,  
and nothing will happen to your precious Kanako."  
  
Naru looked towards me, and nodded quietly. She moved towards Mutsumi, and  
I thought for a second that she was going to punch her senseless.  
  
"Don't even try it, Naru-san," Mutsumi said quietly. "I have no qualms  
about shooting you dead where you stand, and neither does Daisuke."  
  
Daisuke and Hikaru stepped in from the corridor, and each took one  
of Naru's arms before hauling her out of the room.  
  
"That forty-eight hours I gave you earlier is gone, Kanako," Mutsumi  
said with daggers of ice in her voice. "It's now twenty-four hours."  
  
"Goddammit, Mutsumi, we don't have anything to do with your damn problems!"  
  
"To the contrary, Kanako-san," she said, turning and leaving after  
stowing her pistol inside her jacket. "They're now _your_ problems.  
Sayonara, and I'll tell Naru 'ai wa kowareru' for you, ne?"  
  
"KANAKO!" Naru's scream came from the hallway.  
  
"NARU!" I leapt up and dashed after them, but Mutsumi shut the door in my  
face, and I slid down it, pounding my fist on it in vain, tears cascading  
down my cheeks.  
  
"Kimi no koto wa... itsudemo mamoru..."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES  
  
I am now officially disturbed, and not just by Mutsumi as a villainess.  
  
Four words: "Sephiroth Choir as chibis."  
  
Cecilia, I do congratulate you on completing another set of chapters of  
"Yuki's Diary." What was once a small diary focused on one person and her lover  
became a slow opening to the dark underbelly of a shoujo-mugen.  
  
Finally, I've started teaching. It's really a joy, and I've gotten better pay,   
better hours, and a sense of job fulfillment. That, and I get to teach kids how   
to create worlds (since I'm teaching Computer Science and a great part of my   
weekly curriculum is one day a week playing Age of Empires, Civilization, or   
SimCity 2000).  
  
Anyways, there's two more parts to this left. They're mapped out already, so   
they shouldn't be any trouble for me to write. There are two endings that I've  
planned for this, but I intend to write only one, and the other one will remain  
a secret for all eternity... unless someone wheedles it out of me on IM.  
  
And in case you didn't know, the title of this chapter, as well as the  
lines of dialogue, translate to "I will always protect you." Thanks to  
Orla and Jaelle for giving me the translation.  
  
Ja!  
  
Tuxedo Jack  
October 19th, 2003  
2:29 A.M., Central Time  
  
Anime in my DVD player at the moment: Weiss Kreuz  
Next up in the queue: Mahou Tsukai Tai  
Background music: "Requiem for the Gods" from "Castlevania: Gekka no Yasoukyoku" 


End file.
